starwarsmushfandomcom-20200214-history
Swoop Illustrated Issue 2
Grand Exploits at the Zakkeg Speedway In spite of being present for every heat raced at the Zakkeg Speedway for our season opener on The Wheel it has been hard for me to summarise the experience in a way that would allow those unfortunate enough to not be able to see it themselves to truly appreciate just how awesome an experience it was. Certainly there have been swoop races over the millennia that have been grander than this one and that have held more significance, but nevertheless what we recently had on The Wheel will have an impact on our sport for years to come. And as someone who served the Deralian Confederal Union before its destruction and was able to get a glimpse of what culture enamoured with swoop racing can accomplish, I can safely say that our season opener was the finest racing I have yet to see. The quality of the racing aside, there was significant impact imbedded into this enterprise. The Galactic Swoop League had been dormant for some time and the only races that had been occurring lately were unsanctioned, ‘underground’ races. Most of these races were nothing too special, while a few like the Tarisian Season Opener were something to write home about. What they all had in common though was the fact they raised the profile of swoop racing enough that the Galactic Swoop League has been able to reassert itself and now resume professionally sanctioned races all over the galaxy. Fans of swoop racing have really benefited from two season openers, the unofficial one on Taris whose epic quality made the official one The Wheel possible. The season opener on The Wheel is the first of many to follow this season. While I cannot hope to project how long we will be able to continue before some factor in the galaxy creates another interrupting in galactic swoop racing, I can that myself, the rest of the Board of Directors, the rest of the staff of Swoop Illustrated, along all our sponsors and racers are dedicated to bringing you years of many more races just like our season opener. The Grade 4 race saw a rookie racer, Lance Corbet, the winner of a Corporate Sector Authority competition to find a rookie to ride the CSA Swoop managed to make a great impression on the racing community by winning the Grade 4 race besting veteran racer the legendary Grand Admiral Salin Fawzy, a Sith Warlord and Duke of Korriban, who himself placed third. In second place came Riko Vaar, a racer who never has managed to have much luck, but for whom it is safe to say, has made his big break. The Zakkeg Speedway seems to have a gender bias though as four of the five woman racers who competed there crashed their swoops, one for every grade. The most notable crash was of Ingress Vao, who had placed second at the Tarisian Season Opener. In what was clearly the most memorable moment of the races on The Wheel, Ingress’ Grade 3 race heat was going so well that the announcer in fact declared her the winner before she crashed just before the finish line to lose automatically. As one of the most attractive, entertaining, famous of the underground swoop racers, she has clearly managed to establish her place in the Galactic Swoop League and has her sponsors at Kuat Drive Yards-Sienar Fleet Systems very happy. The crash in Grade 1 of a racer using the alias Can-cell Ghost was also memorable as she appeared set to easily win that race had she managed to avoid her crash. Grade 3 was also interesting for its winner Axel Vichten. Right on the heels of him living the Sith Empire and making his swoop racing comeback, Axel rode with Deralian colours and made one of the weeks more impressive race heats. When presented with his 12,500 credits in prize money for this win, he took the opportunity to donate the winnings along with and additional 100,000 credits of his own money to the Deralian Relief Fund an organisation established to help the Deralian Diaspora. In general we saw a lot of new faces at the Zakkeg Speedway. Some raced with great talent and skill, while others made modest but respectable showings as they attempt to make their way into the sport. We also saw the return of a few veteran swoop racers who have proven they still have what it takes to race. It was a great start to the season and I think the fans out there are really excited, as am I to see how these being perform through the rest of the season. It won’t be long before younglings all over the galaxy start telling their parents, “I want to be a Swoop Racer when I grow up!” By Sadim Gnik, Chairman of the Galactic Swoop League Festival of Miracles For four thousand years the planet Thyferra has been breathing life into sick and wounded beings the galaxy over. Bacta an artificially derived fluid manufactured on Thyferra is considered by many to be the best medicine the universe has ever seen. In celebration of the medical miracles afforded by bacta, the noble and virtuous Zorbo the Hutt is inviting the galaxy to celebrate a fete on Thyferra: The Festival of Miracles. The Galactic Swoop League along with Calrissian Enterprises and all our sponsors are joining the people in Thyferra in celebrating this festival and you can expect most amazing entertainment the galaxy can muster. A diverse array of activities are being presented for the fun of sentients from all over the galaxy. In addition to lum guzzling contests, sabacc tournaments, parties and pit fights, the Vratixan Raceway will be the site Galactic Swoop League sanctioned swoop racing, which promises to be even better than the fun we had on The Wheel. On behalf of myself, the rest of the staff of Swoop Illustrated and the GSL and Zorbo the Hutt I would like to invite all of our fans to come to Thyferra for all the latest entertainment excitement. See if CSA Swoop raced by Lance Corbet can pull off another victory in Grade 4. See if our lady racers will have better luck at Vratixan or if their gender is cursed on the swoop. And see what rookies will make a name for themselves during the fete week on Thyferra. History will be made during the Festival of Miracles, come at see it live. By Sadim Gnik, Chairman of the Galactic Swoop League Ranma Hoshiakarui: First Crash of the Season Ranma Hoshiakarui was interview prior to the races on The Wheel. She crashed during her Grade 4 heat, making her the first official crash of the season. She was kidnapped from her bacta tank after the race, but Swoop Illustrated is happy to report she is back and will be racing on Thyferra soon. Dean's Dantooine Grill is perhaps not the most /usual/ of locations to arrange for an interview, but one supposes that the one doing the interviewing isn't precisely the most usual of reporters, either. Even amongst the sea of patrons, the GSL's reporter is quite easy to make out, a flash of fiery red-orange dreadlocked hair sticking out like a sore thumb. Freya has claimed a table to await her lunchtime company, a simple recorder and datapad perched on the table next to an appetizer - whatever it is, it looks very fried, and very spicy. Walking through the throng of people outside the establishment, Ranma checks the chrono on her wrist and nods her head; she was going to be right on time. She was actually aiming to be a little early, though the unfamiliar layout of The Wheel and the unexpected number of beings moving about had slowed her slightly. Dressed semi-casually, she is wearing a forest green mechanics jumpsuit with a single patch on the right shoulder that looks very much like a family crest, her deep crimson hair tied back with a single leather cord to keep it from getting in the way. As she enters Dean's Dantooine Grill, she looks about to find the person she was there to meet. Almost immediately, she spots her and smiles warmly as she makes her way over to the table. Holding out a hand, the smile still on her lips, "Ms. Freya?" She seems almost uncertain, "I'm Ranma. How're you doing this evening?" Aha! This sounds a lot like her company has arrived. "Just Freya," the Firrerreo replies, hurriedly wiping her fingers clean on a napkin before sliding to her feet and reaching out to shake the offered hand. "Not doin' too shabby at all. Nice to meet you, Ranma. Pull up some booth," she invites warmly, smiling broadly as she gestures at her table. She waits until Ranma's claimed a seat before she slides back into her own, waving invitingly at the snack on the table as she does. "Let the jetlag wear off a little before I start houndin' you." Grinning a bit, Ranma takes a seat in the booth and shakes her head slightly at the offer of a snack, "No thanks. I can't eat too early after waking up. Makes my stomach do back flips. Thank you though." She does place an order for a cup of caf though and passes some credits to the passing servo-droid for the drink, "Jetlag doesn't bother me much." She grins a little, "Growing up how I did, there wasn't much time for it." She laughs quietly as she folds her hands on the table, "It's been quite some time since I've mounted a swoop, I was surprised by the invitation." "More for me," Freya chirps, beaming as she plucks another chunk from the... thing. She slides in a request for a Corellian ale when the server swings by before she returns her focus to Ranma, smiling crookedly and gesturing a bit with her snack. "The League needs a little life breathed back into it... and one of the things the big boss is doing to try and make that happen is putting out a zine," she explains. "Reviews of races, interviews and bios on racers, tech specs... all that fun stuff, to try and stir up some more interest." She pops the morsel into her mouth and smiles around it as she munches, closed-mouthed, thankfully. She may not be a /normal/ reporter, but she does at least have some basic table manners. Only after she's swallowed and had a quick sip of water does she speak again. "So, how /did/ you grow up?" she asks in a slightly sing-song tone of voice, winking as she reaches over to toggle on the recorder. Nodding her head, Ranma listens as the other speaks, "Well, it's always good to see some interest in the sport. It's a shame it hasn't been as popular as it was in the past." She grins a little as she considers the best way to answer the question. Not that she had anything to hide, in fact quiet the opposite. After a moment or two she begins to speak in a gentle voice, "Well, my birth parents were traders. In fact they were making a delivery to Nar Shaddaa when I was born. They never went anywhere without the other. Or so I've been told." She pauses for a moment slightly frowning, "In any event, a few hours after I was born, they dropped out of hyperspace and landed on The Smuggler's Moon. Things went sour and they were both killed. Their attackers decided I'd fetch a decent price so kept me alive to sell. A kindly old smuggler happened to be there at the time and decided since his wife had just died and always wanted a daughter that he would take me." She grins a bit, "So most of my childhood was spent flitting about the seedier 'ports of the galaxy." She pauses there as the servo-droid delivers their drinks and offers the droid a smile and 'thank you' as she picks up the drink and takes a sip. "Rotten luck, that," Freya says with a grimace, one that she can't entirely shake when she accepts her drink - it's probably why her 'thank you' to the server is also accompanied by a 'sorry' when they pause at her expression. "But at least you were able to end up in a good spot. Too many people in this galaxy don't have the same fortune." Shaking her head, she sets her drink down and props her chin up in her hands, thinking. "Did you stumble into swooping with the underground races, then?" she asks curiously, her brow furrowing. "Or was it the legal races that first caught your attention?" Nodding her head a little, Ranma offers a smile, "All things considered. I was lucky. Though, I never really thought about it much. He never hid the truth from me." She smiles warmly, "And it is kind of how I got into it. When I was twelve, my adoptive father let me learn how to fly his freighter. By thirteen I was flying on my own. A year or two later we were dropping some supplies off to some people on Nar Shaddaa, we had a little down time so we went for a bit of a walk around the planet and happened on an unofficial race. I was hooked." She grins a little, "I talked him into spending some of the credits we had made on a used swoop so I could join in on the races when we stopped on planets that had them." She grins a little, "Between racing and piloting I don't think I could have had a more enjoyable childhood." "You got hooked young," Freya muses with a twinkle in her eye, flashing a slightly fangy grin across the table. She straightens up to have a quick swig of her drink, then gestures questioningly with the bottle as she settles back in her seat, shifting a bit to sit cross-legged on her bench. "How's your record? And how long were you at it on the underground before you linked up with the GSL?" She nods her head with a bit of a grin, "Yeah. The first few times out I thought the old man was going to keel over. Which just made it all the more amusing to me." She laughs a little as she picks up the cup of caf and takes a sip, "I'd say unofficial race record was probably about 50-50. As I raced more, it got better. But over all I'd say somewhere around 50-50. We didn't really keep records since the races weren't sanctioned." She pauses to think about her GSL record though, "I wasn't on the official circuit very long. I didn't register until I was eighteen. Made two or three races and then a few things outside of the races happened." She pauses for a moment, "It was the day of a race when my father's ship was attacked. They planted explosives that destroyed it. In the process he ended up dying in my arms. Which caused me to be extremely distracted at the race. I plowed into a retainer wall, broke both legs, my arm, collar bone and several ribs. After that I just couldn't race any more." "Fate has /not/ been kind to you, has it?" Freya asks sombrely, tutting quietly and slouching back a bit more in her seat. "But you have your feet back under you; at least physically... what's bringing you back to the league?" She, of course, has her hunches, but it isn't an interviewer's job to lead. Just to ask, and document. Considering for a few moments, Ranma shrugs her shoulders, "They haven't. But it's the way of the universe. Besides, that line of business, things are bound to happen. Part of the job description." She laughs a little and shrugs her shoulders slightly, "I guess to kind of close that chapter of things. My own way of rewriting history. That and my current line of work has lit the fire to get back on the bantha and let loose with a little reckless abandonment." She laughs quietly to herself, "Nothing like the thrill of having little more than an engine between your thighs and going so fast that the slightest error would cause serious injury." Freya can't help but laugh, raising her bottle in salute. "That is /definitely/ true. There aren't too many careers out there that'd even come close." Smiling broadly, she has another swig before setting her drink down, and spreads her hands expansively. "So when you're /not/ cheating death on a pocket rocket, what are you doing with yourself? After that," she adds, her grin going wry, "I figure I can let you go to enjoy the Wheel's hospitality. There are some pretty decent clubs here." Grinning a little, Ranma lets out a little laugh, "Not many jobs with that kind of excitement for sure. Except maybe fighter pilot." Taking another sip of her drink, she considers a moment, then finishes it and set the empty glass down on the table, "Outside of work and racing? Not much out of the norm. Visit a pub here and there. Get into a brawl every now and again. Pretty much just hang out and relax." She laughs a little, "And of course torment a certain boy who's caught my eye. You know. The usual girlie stuff." Though, by the way she carries herself, she doesn't seem all that girlie, quite the opposite by her mannerisms and general posture. She smirks a bit as her datapad beeps in her pocket, glancing at it a little colour goes to her cheeks before she quickly stuffs it away in her pocket once more. By Freya, Staff Reporter Mobquet Asteroid-3 Swoop Racer One major complaint to be had with the Asteroid-3 is that its ease of piloting comes with a price: The larger maneuvering vane ensures both a lower flight ceiling, and also impairs the swoop's cornering abilities somewhat, something unlikely to come up in daily use, but that might require holding back somewhat on the accelerator in a swoop race. One popular modification narrows the fairings and the vane in order to increase speed and flight altitude, but that is one modification that should be done by professional swoop mechanics only, and adversely affects the turn-and-burn ratio. On the other hand, widening the vane decreases speed somewhat, but allows maneuvering performance more akin to Grade 4 swoops. When one combines the ease of modification and maintenance with the ease of use, it's easy to see why the Asteroid-3 is the swoop of choice for Grade 2 racers. My Asteroid-3'll have its spot in my garage for a long, long time to come. Those interested in getting Mobquet Asteroid-3 for themselves can find it at the convenient price 6,750 credits at many fine TaggeCo retailers across the galaxy. TaggeCo is proud to be the top sponsor of the Galactic Swoop League. By Talia Andorn, Prize Winning Swoop Racer